Santa's Search for Solitude

Now, I don't mean to scare you. It is not my intention to remind you that Christmas is less than 2 months away. What my intention is, to inform you that we are not the only ones going through hard times right now. The whole globe is suffering through the hard economic times and the North Pole is not oblivious to it. Now you might think that he is a bit different than the rest of us. He has a workshop full of elves making toys from all the little girls and boys. This is true, but Santa is going through a different type of economic frustration.

Ever since the globe has started on this downward spiral, Santa has been getting more letters sent to him. Problem with that is, they are not all from children. The parents have now started sending letters asking for Santa to send extra special gifts if not a second gift. This would make up for the lack of gifts under the tree this year. So with no sign of the letters slowing down, Santa decided to jump ship and leave the North Pole in search for solitude. He stopped in San Fransisco, Denver, Dallas, Memphis, New York City, and then Boston. Everywhere he went he was mobbed by people asking the same thing the letters asked for. He could not go anywhere without someone coming up to him. This is what happens when your one of the most recognizable people in the world.

So, more frustrated, he left Boston for New Hampshire. He had heard of a place called Lake Solitude in Newbury. He thought that maybe, just maybe, he would find solitude at the lake with the same name. So he drove up I-89 to Newbury early in the morning. He got to Lake Solitude and sat by the lake for many hours. Not a person showed up which meant not a person bothered him with needs. He thought about how he could manage to please everyone as well as himself. Night came and he set up a tent. The sun rose the next morning and he thought some more. Still not a person. Until around noon time, when a family of 3, Mother Father and little girl, showed up. This was a rather young family whom lived in nearby Bradford. The little girl approached Santa and asked him what was wrong. He had told her why he was sitting by the lake and she looking at him and gave him a hug. She had said that if her parents couldn't give her even a single gift, she would be happy. If she wasn't able to receive one gift from her parents, all she would care about was that she got to spend time with her loving parents. She had mentioned that there are children all over the world that don't get to spend Christmas with their parents and she felt bad for them. And then she said something that caught Santa of guard. The little girl asked Santa to give her gift to someone else that really deserves it. She could do without.

So Santa, was now ready to head home. He hadn't found the solitude he was looking for but was pleased by what that sweet little girl had said. So when he arrived back in the North Pole, he told everyone about the little girl and what she meant to him at that very moment. Even though there was so many letters coming in, Santa had realized that, that little girl wasn't the only one out there who felt that way. So with that in mind, Santa continued to read the letters from all those parents and children as he had done before his trip knowing he may never find solitude, but know that the true meaning of Christmas was till out there. The economy will get better some day. When that day comes, Santa will stop searching for the solitude at the lake with the same name.